The Swashbuckler Nova - D&D: Optimized #69

[@cloauldew]

You made a rapier wielding swashbuckler that actually has mechanical incentives to step forward and backward, constantly repositioning in reaction to their opponent, just like real fencers do! This is amazing!

[@dragoknight589]

It’s also a nova damage build, and a fencing match is won by a single hit.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@TheEncouragementKid]

DAYUM!!@@dragoknight589

[@MasterZenII]

There's still time for him to do a Drunken Master Monk x Circle of Spores Druid at episode 420, and a super evil summoner of demons at episode 666.

[@garrettcurler3171]

Not to mention a character built around the Blink spell at episode 182, and a Knowledge Cleric x Diviner Wizard at episode 411.

[@AdarinMonk]

And a cavalier fighter/artificer build based around flying vehicles that is able to pocket-nuke a building at episode 911

[@AnoNYmous-bz2ef]

I'm just glad this is a Swashbuckler that can actually use a buckler.

[@jagondal8378]

This feels like it would be a very engaging character to play. Instead of the melee standard walking up to a baddie and hitting it until it stops twitching, you're a very dynamic element in the fight, and your mobility and evasiveness give you strong flexibility for battlefield control. To fit the theme, you are like a joker/wild card. Maybe you nova down a big threat, or recover a fallen comrade, or distract a strong enemy so the rest of the party can focus down a bigger threat, or move in to finish off a wounded enemy that will probably down another melee when their initiative comes up for the round. I might hazard to call this more an offensive support build than purely nova. The sheer utility of this character is INCONCEIVABLE!

[@BLynn]

Level 1:(see above) [fighter 1, race, feat & fighting-style] Level 2:(see above) [fighter 2] Level 3:(@18:09) [fighter 3 & subclass] Level 4:(@21:15) [rogue 1] Level 5:(@22:37) [rogue 2] Level 6:(@23:09) [rogue 3 & subclass] Level 7:(see above) [rogue 4 & ASI] Level 8:(@29:36) [rogue 5] Level 9:(@31:37) [cleric 1 & subclass] Level 10:(see above) [cleric 2] Level 11:(@40:03) [rogue 6] Level 12:(@40:30) [rogue 7] Level 13:(@41:08) [rogue 8 & ASI] Level 14:(see above) [rogue 9] Level 15:(@46:07) [rogue 10 & ASI] Level 16:(@47:38) [rogue 11] Level 17:(@48:24) [rogue 12 & ASI]

[@TheClericCorner]

Got a swashbuckler in my campaign and through a reward system they get to move half their speed without opp attacks when they use uncanny dodge. He's having SO much fun

[@Ricardo-zo1ti]

For this character, I prefer going High elf/semielf, picking up Booming blade with the racial feature and Elven accuracy as the half feat instead of piercer

[@Duncan55Watson]

Agreed

[@DnDDeepDive]

That was my original plan, actually, but it was too hard to pass on advantage from familiar, and I really didn't want to dip Wizard to get it :). Worth considering though.

[@nathansmith9597]

​@@DnDDeepDive I think this is a situation where party comp should be the determining factor. If you can reliably get advantage anyway (from flanking, an ally's familiar, etc.), go the elven accuracy route. If you need to be able to generate advantage for yourself, magic initiate - though it is worth noting that you won't be able to resurrect your familiar more than once per day, so you'll want to be a little more careful with it. Usually when we are optimizing, we want to design the character to be as self-reliant as possible, but any time a character is actually played, you'll have allies on the battlefield, and people should take that into account when implementing these builds for an actual campaign.

[@Charles-ij1ow]

Yea but the campaign is over by level 13. And it's not much more of a bonus to hit with EA, regular attack 55% advantage 79% EA 90%

[@chiefhandker9432]

Riposte should be a class feature for swashbuckler.

[@kibbo86]

That would honestly be too powerful

[@zTom_]

@@kibbo86 Maybe you could limit it to Proficiency Bonus number of times per Long Rest? You'd get some Riposte fun without breaking the game nor stealing the thunder of the Battlemaster. 🤔

[@jeffadams9807]

Then Just Make A Fighter (Battle Master) / Swashbuckler...

[@SlashRules228]

​@@jeffadams9807 Not the point That fits the subclass perfectly, shame it isnt emraced tis way or another

[@galaxy9radio664]

This is why I hate battlemaster, a lot of what they do should just be actions people can take. Because the battlemaster exists no one else can riposte or do any actual combat moves.

[@wizzz1967cm]

This would be a fun build to play keep up the good work oath of Conquest is still in my mind

[@Honorablediscord2]

playing a similar build right now but I took 3 levels fighter, 5 levels bard, 12 rogue. Tried to maximize the short rest ability's and really lean in to the swashbuckler theme. I have 6 superiority dice, 5 bardic inspiration and a crazy 13 initiative, 6 expertise, and just all the skills lol . With collage of swords I have crazy ac and I have cat nap spell to get everything back in 10 min. That being said, this is not a nova but fun as hell

[@UsualSuspects-p2i]

How did you get the extra superiority dice?

[@nathanmulligan2945]

​@@UsualSuspects-p2isuperior technique fighting style? Martial adept feat?

[@Galatorm]

This is a great and interesting build. I never realized how battle maneuver could allow rogues to adds more sneak attack per turn. I'm currently working on a build for a proud and witty swordsman who use booming blade and disengage too, with some Swashbuckler level in it, and considering several option, both for efficiency and roleplay. The character is the apprentice and agent of a powerful bladesinger, so I think he need to have some magic in him. I was thinking of using either bladesinger or eldritch knight in order to get the double attack combined to a cantrip (booming blade, most of the time.) Along with the Swashbuckler'ability to disengage from enemies it hit. It would require 7lv of eldritch or 6 of bladesinger, meaning the build would only start feeling fun around lv 9 or 10, and at only minimal sneak attacks at that moment, though it would improve over time. (still would make decent booming blade + disengage from lv 3 or 4) That one I was seeing as a sun high elf, to fill the apprentice role to the great wizard that defend the city, who is one. (this story has two relatively high level twins, one eldritch knight and one bladesinger, each protecting a different city yet cooperating to help their brother in time of need.) ==== Another route, maybe for a different character, would be a human (with feat) Dao warlock /thief rogue, with the Crusher feat. (adding just enough blugeon damage to knock people down in a spike trap) and potentially using two scimitar to abuse the double bonus action, maybe going up to 5 warlock for extra attack, or make him pact of the chain instead (imp) and get a different class with multi attack. Maybe weapon master, now that I think about it. Obviously, that one wouldn't make as effective use of booming blade, (no offhand during cantrip) yet would still do some reliable sneak often, while evading enemies. If this one was a bladesinger 6 instead of warrior, he could, in fact, attack 4 times while using booming blade on one, (along with potential sneak attack) and probably have advantage on enemies he knock around. === Another fast mover I'm considering is, of course, a blade bard / swashbuckler. Perhaps as an enemy. I'm working on a "Bufoon of Chaos" with a scary mask opponent. He's a dark elf, teaming up with a female dark elf warlock of the Fathomless. I have 3 duos of "nemesis dark elves" whose plan need to be thwarted by the heroes. The other duos are pretty classical. - A Lloth paladin + a Lloth priestress - An assassin + a shadow sorcerer But this one is more of a weird duo, with a more role-playing / investigation session rather than the combat heavy parts they had to deal with the paladin / priestress duo. That why I'm giving a buffoon costume with unsettling mask to the male, and a maid outfit to the tentacle warlock. (she was magically disguised as a maid in the castle she infiltrated.) They start at lv 6, and I'm wondering how to make the confrontation with them feel a bit unique. I'm thinking to keep the girl full warlock, so she can block damages with her tentacles, to have the tentacle theme more prominent. The buffoon, however, should be an annoying speedster that hit and move, hard to pin down. I don't think it will be much of a treath due to the heavy ranged damage of the team, but it should at least keep the team's paladin/warlock from ending it easily with a two handed smite. It will probably get more fun when they are joined by the enemy paladin & priestess duo for the second great showdown of the campaign. (third one having all 3 duos plus goons vs the heroes and wathever help they could get.) They face each duo separately at least once first.

[@X20Adam]

Important thing to note: If you use action surge you can then ready an action to cast booming blade at the start of the next creature's turn. You'll still have advantage even if it's that creatures turn cause they're still prone. This conserves your superiority die's at the cost of not getting the booming blade damage! Just an idea!

[@gavinlangston603]

I like the idea of a Rogue who feigns an attack, and has a small mouse familiar that hides in the cross guard, and leaps onto the enemy, and takes the help action on the next attack by crawling through the enemies clothes.

[@Galatorm]

No. It should be a hamster. And he should go for the eyes. 😆

[@newgenesisx]

I knew when i saw swashbuckler on title i wouldn't be disappointed!!!Awesome build man

[@Aarvult]

Around the 2nd damage report when you took the Cleric Levels. One thing to remember is the Owl Familiar can be used to cast spells with the range of touch.

[@omega311888]

especially spells like Inflict Wounds :)

[@harmonycstalker]

I love you for this! I was questioning which type of rogue it was going to be, certain that it wouldn't be swashbuckler but this is exactly what I needed for the character I am playing rn!

[@michaeljr6130]

I was torn between playing a battlemaster or a rogue...I guess now I know what I'm playing! 🤣 Great video

[@4eyezwhitedragon]

I love starting to make a character, having a build in mind, then watching a video on it to fill up any cracks it has, just to find the KZbinr is making my same character

[@thesuitablecommand]

Ooh ooh Swashbucklers are my bread and butter!! Grab one level of Fighter for Dueling fighting style and shield proficiency, and grab Magic Initiate for Mage Armor, Booming Blade, and Minor Illusion (I do this as a Variant Human). I built this around the aesthetic of being a magical pirate, not around off-turn combat or going nuclear, but that doesn't mean that my DM knows how to deal with my striker character. Giving me a +2 magic shortsword was a mistake because now I never miss and my sneak attack damage is magical! Hoping he doesn't start playing around with Silence to disable my cantrip 😂 Edit: aah, I see that Magic Initiate is part of this video! Looking forward to seeing how you use it

[@plemgrubern]

this might be my favorite build you've done, really clever ways of making the most out of all the character's abilities

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - glad you enjoyed!

[@jedfromyourlocallibrary]

Such a fun build and hey, hopefully more people will fall in love with the Princess Bride!

[@thundyrcat]

This is an exciting build! I have asked my DM if I can respec my lvl 6 Gloomstalker to make this build and he said yes! I can't wait!

[@jackchaplin3794]

Thanks for another good video Coby. Was litterly playing with this concept this week. I just wanted to give 2 quick suggestions. 1. Action surge is a great way to add an additional sneak attack by readying an action to hit on someone else's turn incase you run out of superiority dice. 2. Damage is good with dueling but have you tried Blind fighting on a rogue (I know you get it at level 14) Run into a pitch black room, have an ally cast fog cloud or darkness, get a eversmoking bottle (low tier magic item). And give yourself free advantage on all attack, while they have disadvantage to hit you and an increased chance to get a free opportunity attack.

[@KvanY1]

I originally found this channel looking for a swashbuckler and made one for a one-shot using battlemaster and previous swashbuckler build. BUT THIS! I always say it, but you sir are amazing. And i love to support the things you do!! Keep up the great work!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@KvanY1]

Side question - is superior technique something to look at? Another die and manuever for like precise strike or something?

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@KvanY1 For sure - another round of "mini burst" is always welcome :)

[@Keylime_Pi3]

I literally made this build almost exactly yesterday, and I’m shocked, impressed, and disappointed that you already made this lol

[@AdamZollo]

Arcane Archer's Grasping Arrow damage (2d6 when a creature is moved) is also once per turn. It lasts a minute and doesn't require a save. Toss in a 1-2 other party members with pushing abilities from their subclass, invocations, or feats and you can really take good advantage of that.

[@larstollefsen1236]

Nice build, I like the feel if it and anything that makes Swashbuckler better is greatly appreciated. I feel like at level 6 the best use of action surge is if you miss on booming blade, getting a second chance for Sneak Attack instead of just burning it immediately.

[@jackcojisan]

What a fun build… well done, sir.

[@prostatus7190]

let's go, episode 69, insert funny haha joke Edit: Also I know this is a Swashbuckler, but Arcane Trickster with Mirror Image and Sentinel/War Caster is actually amazing, unless you're using it later in the build and I don't know

[@30vamshi]

Great build! As always though, if there is another grave cleric in the party, this build becomes so much better. You won't have to take cleric levels and it'll feel nice to do this as part of team.

[@hayleykaye1751]

I was just playing around with making a swashbuckler then saw you put this video up. I don't know how you are able to cast detect thoughts from so far away and without line of sight, but it's pretty impressive lol

[@theMrLife]

It made my heart sing to hear you love The Princess Bride too!

[@mattgopack7395]

Always fun to see rogue builds! They're tough to optimize, but the battlemaster combination for extra reaction attacks does work nicely, along with the grave cleric for nova damage. Does give nice numbers! On the subject of piercer, I think it does gain value on a rogue - because it only cares about an attack dealing piercing damage, but not that the damage die is of the weapon - it should definitely apply to the sneak attack dice. It *should* also apply to the extra booming blade dice, the way I read it. Because your attack is rolling so many of them, it does strike me as a rather consistent dmg increase on average (since chances are you're going to roll a 1/2/3 on one of the dice). Not sure the best way to reflect it in the damage though. Does make me wonder how to take full advantage of the panache feature, though - maybe a MAD barbarian/rogue tank with a level in hexblade? Hmmm...

[@cloauldew]

I think this character could make better use of Panache by taking the Defense fighting style, using a scimitar instead of a rapier, and taking Slasher instead of Piercer. Between slowing your opponent by 10 ft once per turn with Slasher and giving them blanket disadvantage to attack on crits, making your opponent prone with Trip Attack (half their already reduced movement just to stand), giving them disadvantage to attack anyone else and preventing them from making opportunity attacks on anyone with Panache and Fancy Footwork, you are an expert at isolating a single combatant from the rest of the fray and completely disabling them and keeping them from fleeing at the same time as you whittle (well, burst) them down with almost no resource cost. That's not even considering sentinel. If this character gets in melee range of someone nothing short of teleportation will let them escape.

[@frockrock774]

Hex blade isn’t useful because barb abilities require str to use

[@TheRobversion1]

you're correct on piercer checking all the dice for 1s. dmg wise it's as colby said. for a d8 dmg dice as the highest, the average is a 1. as for panache and any other similar taunt, a good combo for it is sanctuary but you'd have to align your casting and attacking stat. so a hexblade and divine soul (for a cha based sanctuary) dip work.

[@thesuitablecommand]

This video inspired me to revisit my own swashbuckler build! Here's my new version: Swashbuckler 16 / Battle Master 3 / Dragon Sorcerer 1. Go Rogue 1 > Fighter 1 > Sorc 1 > Rogue 4 > Fighter 3 > Rogue X. Start as a variant human or custom lineage with the Martial Adept feat, recommend Precision Strike and Brace. Get the Superior Technique fighting style with maybe Maneuvering Strike, and pick up shield proficiency. Get natural AC and the sword cantrips, and maybe mage hand and minor Illusion, plus disguise self and shield. Then get swashbuckler core features, then get more maneuvers, then go full rogue after that. Comes online properly at level 5, but can really see some action at level 7+ Would be very ready to spin this like the protagonist from the Chivalry of a Failed Knight anime :)

[@zacharymichener4687]

Love this build. I was thinking of doing a charisma based rogue for my next character so this gave some good information!

[@przemekmaj3576]

Idk if you mentioned but it is worth while talking to your DM about casting Booming Blade with shield held in other hand. It has Somatic attribute so... At my desk it is not allowed (war caster feat needed). Great build thematically!

[@BAHGaming]

Get that discord up! I'll happily join in. Thanks for the great videos.

[@AVJHalonen]

Hey! I've watched a bunch (almost every "optimized") of your videos and haven't given any feedback so: your videos are really engaging and an hour flies by.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you so much!

[@zogofstuff]

this is probably one of my favorite builds yet :) hope i get to play this some day

[@iannachman5655]

I had almost this exact build and never realized it was on here!! I went Thri-kreen though, dual wield plus shield plus natural armor

[@Arel1989]

Personally, I would have gone for Hexblade Warlock rather than Cleric. This means that during the point buy you can focus on your Charisma stat instead of Wisdom. Yes, you lose Path to the Grave, but as you stated that uses an action whereas Hexblades curse is a bonus action, adds a little extra damage to all attacks made by you, allows a Crit on a 19 and 20 (better opportunity to use the Piercers crit function) and you regain health when the enemy dies. And it resets on a short rest. Thematically it works as well if you're some kind of pirate-y rogue and you make a deal with a otherworldly entity to help you in your devious, sneaky ways. Just my thoughts though. Genuinly love all the builds you make!!!

[@TheRobversion1]

Nice build. it follows the same structure/concepts i subscribe to and it's burst so it's something i would play. In fact i played almost the same build in the past and shared it (or something similar) in the comments of 1 of your older vids. glad to see another grave cleric use from you which imo is the best cleric dip for strikers. imo if you think piercer's benefit is too insignificant, you could consider squat nimbleness if you're small. that should make it easier for you to get out of grapples and more move spd to skirmish.

[@commodoreblood]

City of Mist reminds me of Wolf Among Us. Very interesting. I'm definitely going to check it out. And hey! Good to see you doing a link that gives you credit. I told you many moons ago that you'd be popular enough to do that soon. Fantastic to see, man; I'm in love with this series of videos and glad everyone else is, too. Wishing you nothing but the best.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! I hope you enjoy it - it looks *really* cool :)

[@knightwalker44]

These builds sound like so much fun! I only wish I could try every one of them out for a session or two.

[@kablueyjoe]

Really like the love Swashbuckler got. I’m currently playing one and almost went High Elf as other suggested. But instead went Sorc(Divine Soul) lvl 4 for spells and for Favored By the Gods and then back to pure rogue. It’s been a blast. You get to stay Cha based for Panache. You almost always have advantage so I found familiar wasn’t worth it.

[@dmanew]

I won't lie I was extremely ready for that dip at 31:30 to be hexblade

[@crownlexicon5225]

I've mentioned it before, but it's especially relevant with a Swashbuckler Rogue. Your familiar can treat you as a mount and ride in, say, your vest pocket and ready an action to use the help action. As long as you don't provoke an attack of opportunity (as the mount), neither does your familiar. This isn't exactly necessary since you *could* have an owl with flyby, but this way, you could have, say, a ferret, or some other tiny creature and add more uniqueness to your character

[@TheRobversion1]

agreed. the main advantage really of owls is not really the flyby but more of being out ot range of aoe dmg when your character gets blasted by an aoe.

[@crownlexicon5225]

@@TheRobversion1 I mean, RAW, if your ferret is under your cloak, isn't it behind full cover? And therefore unaffected by AoE?

[@TheJourneyman03]

I have been working on a similar build, and completely missed the Grave Cleric. Great build!

[@Kaas_]

Not sure if you'll see this, but big fan here, love all your builds. I'd love to see a full psychic themed build with maybe Emerald dragonborn and Aberrant mind sorcerer. I've been a big fan of psionics and love that some psychic flavor has been coming back. Thanks for all your work, mate!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - on the to do list!

[@4Alex418]

Solid content. Keep up the good work!

[@DazaiTakeyama]

I love rogues and this build sounds like a lot fun!

[@disbelief3318]

I like the idea of a dashing fighter who stumbled upon a cursed rapier (hexblade) and then pursued a rougishlife, would free up feat option as B Blade is a lock cantrip.

[@mrandrewskie6122]

Not sure if I heard you say it in the video, but with piercer you should be able to reroll any of the sneak attack die as well as the rapier d8 of your choice.

[@mightybeniah7346]

I am actually planning on playing a variation of this and the coyote in a 1 shot and had a realization. I am doing a Mastermind Rogue because it lets you use your bonus action to Help Allies within 30 feet. My plan was to stand next to the Barb and hand out advantage to Allies further out because I am not regularly using my bonus action. What i realized is I am fairly sure a Mastermind can Help themselves without needing a familiar. Slightly different build technique but I thought you would appreciate it.

[@matttownsend8406]

I got to play in a lvl 3 oneshot as a high elf swashbuckler, grabbed booming blade from race and used rakish audacity with cunning action dash to move just outside of the enemies movement, so they would have to action dash to get back to me. At higher levels with panache you can make them chase you and as such save on the trip manoeuvre to use brace more often as you will be moving quite away from enemy and you don’t want them going for allies. Makes a really fun duelist type character.

[@jeffreyblackwell1444]

F/C/T Triclass. Not trying to paint the build as lackluster but FCT builds have been around since the early 80's as a half elf character in first addition. 😉. The bless in the first round of combat makes the total dpr averages kinda lower... but you were going for bigger 1 round damage. No doubt the toon would be very versatile and fills a lot of needs in non combat situations too. Should be fun at the end of the campaign

[@jalapenoburger7114]

Omg! I was just thinking about a build like this yesterday! I was thinking about, one level dip on hexblade warlock and then full swashbuckler using booming blade for dealing a lot of damage, disengaging constantly for the extra BM damage, use hex on wisdom and then panache is kinda unfailable, if you consistently get your sneak attacks with booming blade and both hex and hexblade curse you should be doing at lvl 10: 2d8+6d6+4+Cha modifier (ideally 5)

[@Nickylas10]

Colby, super siked to watch this video and see nearly the same build I'm playing! We made similar choices though I went for dual wielding as DM gave us sick magic items: rapier that has 3 charges-- DC16 Wis save for 3d6 damage and frightened, plus the rapier of speed). This combo makes every turn a really interesting optimization problem as ba is incredibly crowded as well as reaction. I didn't think of grave cleric but that was a wicked idea. Unfortunately i live dangerously and dumped mentals (besides CHA) so no chance to MC into cleric.

[@jeffadams9807]

Psyched ???

[@dragondragondragon]

I really love this build, a true fencer with lots off movement and tactical thinking. Magic initiate (or be a high elf) with Booming / Greenflame blade is nearly a must for a rogue. I had thought of something similar but with 6 levels of bladesinger instead of 3+2 warrior/cleric. In my case starting with sentinel as feat, and a whip and dagger as weapons. The build works as sustained damage instead of nova one, but I found it effective. The whip and dagger have minimal base damage, but it's not that relevant if the main thing is the extra bonuses you get for booming blade and sneak attack. The second attack with bladesinger it's the only way (i think) does allow you to use booming blade and also attack with the off hand for three attacks per turn (and three chances to activate sneak attack). Sentinel + whip + booming blade + swashbuckler allow you to attack, retreat, if they go for you booming blade proc, but if you are next to allies and the target is not going for you, sentinel is activated, because even if you move away you are still in range thanks to the whip. The extra movility of the bladesinger is really apreciated in a build like this, and the sum of the skills and versatility of a rogue and the spells of 6 level a wizards is... even more versatillity! The Indiana Jones option is to use a light crossbow (revolver) and whip instead of dagger and whip, with crossbow expert and sharpshooter you have a huge damage increase in your two "bad attacks" (2d4+20+dexX2 instead of 2d4+dex), but you can still use booming blade on the whip for the extra bladesinger attack, and for the reaction attack. But of course, you need a self-reloading crossbow (like a revolver, or an artificer's repeater, maybe a pair of levels here, since we're on INT/DEX...).

[@jackchaplin3794]

You gave me a great idea. My current class is probs eldritch knight for this but...? Polearm master + Warcaster + Booming blade. Hit them for booming blade, retreat, when they follow they detonate booming blade, then Opportunity attack them with another booming blade thanks to polearm and war caster, now there 10ft out from you and will take booming blade a second time if they want to make those last 5ft.

[@TheRobversion1]

light crossbow won't work as that's 2-handed but a repeating hand crossbow from artificer infusions should work.

[@MrChoco409]

I have literally had this character for a few months already, but in a different way. I made the highest initiative I could, and at level 10 (5 swash, 5 battlemaster) as a harengon with the alert feat, I have a +18 to initiative. I had never thought of using reaction maneuvers like that, I had just to out them in now. Way more optimized. Although I had to get rid of my favorite “disarming attack”, thisll be so fun.

[@andrewhalmo656]

Thank you Cody for liking my post I made earlier, even though this video is from 2 years ago! 😊 But I made a dumb mistake by forgetting that Brace uses your reaction and thinking I could make a second reaction. So I deleted it, but I do have another thing you could add to this build. After you gain Cleric levels you could use one of your ASI’s to take the Metamagic initiate Feat for Quicken Spell. Since you aren’t using your Bonus Action you could quicken Inflict Wounds for another 3d10 damage. Since you only use cantrips for your Actions you can still use a leveled spell as a Bonus Action.

[@jeffadams9807]

Bladesinger's & Swashbuckler's Just Plain: ROCK !!!

[@GrrumpyPants]

29:00 piercer improves your damage by exactly 1. 1d8 is an average of 4.5, so to use piercer optimally you would use it on any roll of a 4 or lower. Doing so increases your average roll to 5.5, an improvement of exactly 1 point. If you get to use this again on your reaction, that should improve your ADPR by 2.

[@DnDDeepDive]

This assumes that every attack lands. It generally doesn't :). So yes, against 0 AC, this is true, but if we're trying to calculate average DPR increase, it's impacted by our likelihood to hit. Regardless, when crunching the numbers, I just added a flat 2, because it was easier, and close enough to accurate.

[@GrrumpyPants]

@@DnDDeepDive very true, I forgot to take accuracy into account!

[@GrrumpyPants]

@@DnDDeepDiveI suppose an ASI also increases the damage by 1 on a hit, so the only time an ASI would outperform this feat would be in the situation where you land multiple attacks in a turn and both roll a 4 or lower, meaning you can't reroll the second. Given piercer is a half feat, and you were able to even out your dex with the +1 it provides, this is clear value over simply taking +2 in dex.

[@owowen21]

Love the build!!! and the quick super sexy bard build was great too xD On a different subject; with Tasha's the Battlemaster Fighter gets additional maneuvers, and so now with "Tactical Assessment" and "Commanding Presence" maneuvers they can help in Ability checks AND Combat (Mostly Combat

[@qhantom_]

love your work man. keep it up

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@Fangoros]

I know this is an old video, but... I am pretty sure that piercer would also allow you to chose a sneak attack dice to reroll. So you would probably use the feat all the time since one of all those dice is gonna be low

[@briancampbell395]

Whip is the polearm weapon of rogues...works well with your brace and does give you that option of triggering more AOO

[@oathboundhero1782]

This might be a good statistical replacement for rapier if you're reliably getting sneak attack. Still, flavorwise I still love rapier a little more.

[@briancampbell395]

@@oathboundhero1782 As do i but the key was to gain reach

[@oathboundhero1782]

@@briancampbell395 Agreed, then! 😂

[@Pondering133]

I made one similar, early Magic Initiate for BB/Pres/Familiar, as a Half Wood Elf for +5 movement (70ft bonus action Dash!). The plan originally was to gain Elven Accuracy, however our DM showered us with magic items during the campaign so I instead I switched up from duelist to dual wielding (Tasha optional rules) and brought battlemaster fighter to level 5 for extra attack (3 attacks per turn, 2 with a Flame Tongue Rapier and one with Dragon Slayer Rapier). Our party is melee heavy so the positional BB-Dance rarely worked out.

[@av1dgamer]

I keep leapfrogging my next character builds with yours! Good problem to have 😁

[@ReaverMoggy]

Doing the battle master/swashbuckler build, with another rogue on the party that takes the martial adept feat, so we can get eachother to attack for sneak attack and go all out on one turn

[@Lich-x2g]

Hi off topic for the video but the audio editing is so smooth its really cool

[@Solenum756]

This is my favorite intro music and I hope he sticks with it from now on

[@claytonweyl4135]

I like Medium Armor Master for the feat tbh. The DeX is the main draw but it's also a permanent +1 to AC as Half Plate will now outdo Studded Leather. Works since you wanna be a frontliner.

[@andrewhalmo656]

Since you aren’t using you Bonus action, without changing the build at all, you could add the Quick Toss Maneuver and throw a dagger for some extra damage.

[@dominicdwk]

Love this build.

[@DnDAnalysis]

I built a version of this with the UA kobold race (free cantrip for BB). I took feinting attack instead of trip, and ended up with dragon hide feat for 20AC. The kobold racial roar is awesome, and my version starts rogue, dips 3 fighter, and doesn't multiclass any more. More of a sustained short rest damage build, trying to get brace 4x per short rest.

[@kanaadghaisas5743]

I love your videos, and I have a request for a build. I would really like it if you make a peace cleric build, that focusses on healing. Love the content. As a fellow number gremlin, these are really helpful to help me theorize builds.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Hm... how many levels of peace cleric do I need? :)

[@kanaadghaisas5743]

@@DnDDeepDive Well at least 6. But you are the math guy, so whatever you think is best.

[@drumlineking07]

I did something similar with a previous character, but I went heavy into Artificer (Battle Smith) for the Steel Defender. I basically created Polnaref from Jojo's Bizarre Adventures lol.

[@lorddice2113]

Would love to see a soulknife rogue with a lvl dip into barbarian for unarmored defense. The type of character that can walk around in normal clothes no weapons on hand and be able to attend functions and still be able to assassinate people without the evidence.

[@noahloftin7705]

I love this

[@theonlymatthew.l]

I'd rather do that with monk levels 😁

[@jeffadams9807]

That Would Be Sick, lol...

[@fasterpet]

Awesome build! hoping you look into a build to use dragon's breath! I considered casting it on my owl familiar (attack owl!!) and going lore bard to take dragon's breath and find steed as magical secrets. I think that it would be awesome to be mounted on your steed and have both you and your mount breathing fire/acid/cold/lightning/poison!

[@TheRobversion1]

sadly find steed doesn't work with dragon's breath as you aren't the end target of the effect. Jc has shut these types of find steed combos down such as spirit guardians, vampiric touch, smite spells, etc. for steed casting basically you are looking for spells to cast on yourself that wont allow you to affect other creatures afterwards. haste is sort of on an iffy ground here as you can affect other creatures after with an attack but haste gets the pass from JC as it doesn't specifically give you an option to attack but simply another action (where you could choose to attack once). dragon's breath is clear that it will allow you target something else after.

[@obrien1121]

Hey Colby, I know this video is 2 years old and you may not see this, but I was looking through your Playlist for swashbuckler videos. Do you have a hexbuckler build video? 15 buckler/5 hexblade with TB+Esmite+IPW... thoughts or recommendations for a build like that?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Lots of swashbucklers and hexblades but don't think i've ever combined them. Will have to put it on my to do list...

[@Bakedbigfoot9]

I tried out my battlemaster 3 swashbuckler 9 build last Friday with booming blade and it was an absolute blast.

[@Johnny0Masters]

Perhaps even boombastic you'd say?

[@Sunny_Punkin]

This is your 69th build and as such I will be liking and subscribing.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Woo hoo! Thanks :)

[@ShyBurgos]

Awesome build, this also would bea great Aria Stark build also. God of many faces would be either a grave or death god. I'm using a Rouge/Ranger build that picked up fey touched for the bless. Gloomstalker that attacks in the dark with swashbuckler.

[@jasonwall4349]

Love your content. Id love to see a Warlock Hexblade/ Rogue Arcane Trickster build

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Ok, on the list :)

[@jasonwall4349]

@@DnDDeepDive Hell yeah!

[@jasonwall4349]

@@DnDDeepDive Looking forward to it!

[@jussikankaansydan5645]

Thank you Colby. @26:00 Nice thing also is that when the Enemy is tripped and stands up, it uses its half movement to do so, and you may apply the Booming Blade's damage instantly, if it doesn't free advantages for every melee attackers on your team. @28:47 It might, but lets face it you have dex mod +3, Piercer will give you +1 tod dex, and other benefits (as you explain), but you could also think about Medium Armor Master, cause it will give your scalemail some benefits as in bumping your AC and let you use a stealth without disadvantage. (although you are making a nova build so your option is more valid) @31:35 Wait what? you aren't dipping in with gloomstalker conclave? This video came right moment for me, I'm building a Pirate Character, with Mercenary Veteran background, although you have many superior ways/experience to build your might I say Creations, I still want to list some of my own thoughts as explaining what I'm going to build and why. First of all I took the Variant human, cause well my DM is running a game for the first time since 20 or so years, so I wouldn't want to challenge him and take the Custom Lineage, and cause I know he HATES that almost every race have Darkvision, I wanted to please him and so forth. I took as a Human, a Gunner -Feat, only because I think it fit's the build and it bolsters my background as a Pirate. 1st lvl, Rogue and 2nd with Ranger (I couldn't play the first session so we decided together that I will start lvl 2), From now on out, I'll take 3rd lvl in Ranger, for 3 reasons, first of all the Fighting style is a great way to hone something, so I'll take two-weapon fighting style, second reason for Zephyr Strike -spell and for third I'm the groups helping hand as I have played for 15years straight rpg's, and the rest of them are playing first time ever, so I'll take the broken af spell Engangle, so I don't have to be most often the one that shines on the battlefield, it's a fantastic CC spell, and I'm using a pistol too so that's that. 4th Level I might go and take the Gloomstalker Conclave cause it just fits, as an Ranger I think I might straw my powers from some where so I included a Gods to my background and went with Sisters-Who-Were-One, and cause my backstory is filled with backstabbing, mother taken away and brother hatred I think she is tipped towards Shar at this point. Gloomstalker gives me Umbral Sight and from this forth I can actually see in darkness, but butter for the bread is going to be Dread Ambusher and this is why I went with TWFs, rather than Duelist Fighting style. From this point forward I think it's going to be Rogue until Swashbuckler, and if I'm lucky my DM might actually run a second campaign so I can take some feats too later on, I'm thinking of a mobility, sentinel, dual wielder but time will tell. Also word of mention, I drew my inspiration from deviant/pinterest artis Bob Kehl. Thoughts If you did read this?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Sounds fun! I'm not familiar with Bob Kehl but will have to look him up...

[@jussikankaansydan5645]

@@DnDDeepDive Cheers for the answer

[@jussikankaansydan5645]

@@DnDDeepDive And I'll try to keep you update with my Pirate, when we reach more levels with her. - I Really enjoy watching your Optimized builds cause I can relate in optimizing, like you say I'm indeed home in here.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@jussikankaansydan5645 warcaster and booming blade work. you cant warcaster though with the sentinel reaction attack. only with the polearm master though. warcaster only cares about the end target. that end target of booming blade is only one. you or your weapon aren't the end target of booming blade. the enemy is. JC clarifies that range and target aren't the same always. range is your point of origin. target is whoever suffers the effects of the spell.

[@BG-bm3sn]

These build videos are great! It would be really nice to have some number visuals too.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! You mean aside from the spreadsheets in the video description?

[@BG-bm3sn]

@@DnDDeepDive yeah, maybe show a few lines in the video, as you mention that part

[@Akuma-cz4vj]

Love swashbucklers. Just played one in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Also, Day 1 of asking for firearms specialist.

[@quendi5557]

One of the things you could do with the swashbuckler taunt is use it before your nova round to try and encourage them to try and attack you.

[@TheRawrnstuff]

Whenever I make a support-y character and the party includes a rogue, I make sure to pick up the feat 'Martial Adept'. That gives me a d6 superiority die (that refreshes on short rest) and 2 maneuvers from the Battle Master list of maneuvers. One of those maneuvers will always be 'Commander's Strike', which lets me to sacrifice one of my attacks and a bonus action to let the rogue immediately make an attack (which I can make sure qualifies as a sneak attack) as a reaction. It's not great for action economy, but the rogue loves me. (The other maneuver I tend to choose with it is the 'Tactical Assessment', which is a great option to use out of combat before rest if I haven't used the superiority die yet).

[@Morganwrath]

I similarly if there is a rogue in the party and im playing a caster will always try to take a 1 lvl dip in order cleric if i can.

[@TheRawrnstuff]

@@Morganwrath The way me and my group plays, the spells during combat are rarely (if ever) cast on allies, but the Voice of Authority is a fantastic feature for a buffer. Especially if the party has multiple characters that can really capitalize on a single weapon attack.

[@bombboy200]

Remember that there is the Superior technique fighting style if you wish to have more uses of your maneuvers and an additional maneuver you can use. Additionally, the die will be added to your pool rather than just being a d6 due to being a battlemaster.

[@TheRobversion1]

and martial adept.

[@Otaconsps]

this is exactly the character I want to play next, minus the cleric dip....just for flavor reasons

[@matthewlowrey7001]

ok I wanted to share a build with you but didn't know where to offer it, but i think you will like it a lot. It's a Ninja build but not your typical on,. like no shadow monk. It is features wise a lvl 29 character compressed into a lvl 20 character. I had to do it for an AL league game so had to use points buy, so stats are probably lower then if i had rolled them, but with that said the buy was 8 str/15 dex, 15 con, 8 int, 15 wis, 8 cha. I then did racial ability score adjustments as +1 dex, +1 Con, + 1wis, making those 3 scores 16s. First lvl is rogue , did 2nd as monk, and 3rd as ranger going assassin/ dragon/and gloomstalker respectively for sub classes. Black chromatic dragonborn for race. The reason i did race as dragonborn was to allow it to use its extra attack making 2 breath weapon attacks every turn, and then a weapon attack in first round of combat( due to dread ambusher) with a hand crossbow, which with crossbow expert would allow also a bonus attack with a hand crossbow. The hand crossbow can be made a monk weapon with dedicated weapon feature from tasha's cauldron. so the damage of the hand crossbow scales with martial arts die. Technically means also if i wanted to i could make attacks with a hand crossbow as a monk weapon using strength mod, but i don't want to so its moot. See the 2 breath attacks a turn though come from the dragonborn's breath attack feature, and Breath of the dragon feature from way of the ascended dragon monk. both qualify independently to use there part of the extra attack. The whole build is basically 12 lvls monk ( Dragon) / 5 lvls Rogue ( assassin) / 3 lvls ranger (gloomstalker). with feats : crossbow expert, sharpshooter, Fighting Initiate ( blind fighting ) ( can let you see invisible things and see in your own fog cloud if needed. within that 10ft radius), and skulker. I also reflavored weapons to keep with the martial arts theme. like a whip is a bladed chain whip, shortswords are sai(s), and made the rapier a katana, and i know longsword would fit better, but it doesn't have finesse. I also was gonna put in fighting initiate sentinel to take use of sneak attack as a reaction attack, and could have done it holding a hand crossbow, and a whip or sai in the other hand. whip as a monk weapon is huge , and often under looked at. you can make it one with dedicated weapon feature, its little d4 die scales with martial arts die so can reach a d10, its finesse and reach, and if you had dual wielder feat you could even fight with it with two weapon fighting . Hope you liked it . what is funny is for base rogue , from monk I am getting most of rogue , and canny feature for ranger gives another expertise . in 2 lvls you can have 3 skills covered with expertise that way. I did it in perception , investigation ( since its importiant skill for rogues and sort of counters intelligence ability score is an 8, also so does taking rogue at first lvl to get dex /int for ability proficiencies. I also made sure to take athletics because strength is an 8 also, so when climbing and swimming and such , the roll won't be a -1 tacked on at the end. sometimes i take skills because its wanted or needed, and other times i take a skill proficiency to avoid a penalty. also took rogue first because you start with 4 skills, ranger and canny give more , and with the background that is 7 skills by lvl 2, 3 with expertise .took uthgard tribe member background for athletics and survival. since its ranged took the free tool proficiency as woodcarver's tools to make my own arrows/ wooden bolts. you can make 5 during a short rest, and 20 during a long rest. anyways enjoy

[@leganderyman9149]

I’ve heard there is a combo were you put most of your levels into cleric tempest and 2 levels into scribe wizard so you can turn a spell into lighting damage and then max it

[@Ricardo-zo1ti]

I miss the duo builds, now that you reminded me of those lol

[@DnDDeepDive]

I'll do another eventually. It's hard because they tend to just not perform as well, for whatever reason, but mostly I just haven't had a combo that's *really* grabbed my attention in awhile, though I've got a couple on the to do list...

[@Ricardo-zo1ti]

@@DnDDeepDive Yeah, but that's kind of the drive of it, in a way. Most of the character ideas you explore are well known (although you optimize those in cool, new ways), but finding an original duo is a really exciting surprise!

[@TheRobversion1]

@@DnDDeepDive my guess is the duo dont do as well because: 1. most people look up ideas for their characters. not for their party members as those people might want to play something else. 2. your duo builds have less creativity/out of the box thinking as you tend to shore up the weaknesses of one build with the other. you have more straight classes there as well that personally i find boring. imo it's more interesting when you multiclass and attempt to "puzzle" things on 1 character instead of just creating to separate vessels for the puzzle. 3. iirc those vids are also a bit longer. and we know longer vids arent the cup of tea of some your viewers. 4. the structure of the vids presentation of the builds could be confusing at points as you jump back and forth from 1 build to the other. what i'd personally like to see from the duo builds is that each build is self-reliant and interesting in itself. like 2 of your normal single character builds that don't "need" each other but actually work well off of each other. like your cheese grater and the catch 22/swarmkeeper slingshot as both like forced movement into a damaging area effect. though i'm guessing that would result in longer vids unless you do them separately and say it's a video series where you'll touch on how they work well with each other in each vid.

[@Hatchet_Jack556]

Drinking Game Idea: Every time Colby puts one of these things in his character build, take a shot (of apple juice of course); - Variant Human - Custom Lineage - Dip into fighter class - Multi classes into two other classes What else??

[@DnDDeepDive]

Uses one of the following feats: PAM, GWM, SS, or XBX ;). Also - builds a melee nova character with Paladin levels...

[@adamkaris]

Also: Runs out of cards but points anyway

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@adamkaris Ha ha - I just can't help it.

[@Lucky_Luke486]

Says something along the lines of "A reasonable person might do/not do X... I've never claimed to be reasonable"

[@JMichaelC98]

So we are taking find familiar, owl of course

[@Justanacorn13]

I've actually looked into powerbuilding for seductivity. My best effort is 12 swashbuckler / 8 fey wanderer. Panache is a really silly charm ability that lets you roll persuasion vs insight. This build has +22 persuasion.

[@zenithos]

Tank Idea for you to think about. Dwarf Monk with Durable and Dwarven Fortitude, spend 1 ki to dodge as a bonus action and heal 2*Con minimum. Add a level of Barbarian for the Dex+Con AC and better hit die. And 14th level monks get Diamond Soul, solid for a tank.

[@DnDDeepDive]

on the to do list!

[@reesebenson3215]

This is very similar to my first ever try at optimization a build, but with some better choices made. Main Difference is I started Rouge, and planed the fighter levels later. Unfortunately the campign died after getting to level 4 so I only got 1 fighter level.

[@steventrainor1302]

Half elf instead of custom lineage then elven accuracy instead of piercer as half feat. Take 4th level of fighter if really want the magic Initiate, but I think swapping your wisdom an charisma scores and doing 1 level dip in sorcerer is better. Pick up shield spell along with booming blade. The extra crits from elven accuracy would be great.

[@sggee]

Haregon, 19 lvl rogue, 1 lvl fighter - 2 weapon fighting, feats (alert, dual weilder, piercer, gunner), = +20 initiative, 18 AC, 20 dex, 16 char, 14 con, 10 wis, 8 str, 8 int. Doing 30 dmg (dual rapier) without sneak attack/turn. Most likely always 1st every turn. Plus has the ability to have a d10 pistol with no loading issues and no close combat disadvantage.

[@sggee]

Alternatively you can do duelist for +2 dmg, board and sword to make AC 20 instead of 18 and exchange dual wielder for defensive duelist so you have +6 prof mod to AC as reaction when you are attacked ie 26 AC…. But damage falls to 1d10 +7 (+5 dex mod + 2 duelist dmg) + sneak attack but AC way up for survivability